A Visual History Of The Bicycle

The two-wheeled vehicle has come an awful long way.

We're inching toward spring, so our thoughts naturally turn to all the things we haven't been able to do for the past few months. Like: biking! Oh man, biking is so great. And so is this little animated history of the bicycle's design, created by Danish firm Visual Artwork.

The bicycle has changed a lot from its beginnings in Germany as a pedal-free "dandy horse," which is basically just a plank of wood with two wheels (you move by running along like a Flintstones car). The animation shows the two-wheeled vehicle's design from the dandy horse as it gains pedals and gears, as the wheels change sizes (with a brief stop at the penny-farthing, the ultimate in absurd modes of transport), and finally to our modern road bike.

And who knows! Maybe we're due for another step in the evolution of life on two wheels.